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Frank Arthur
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Los Angeles Music Preview: BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WIND QUINTET WITH STEPHEN HOUGH (The Wallis)
HOUGH AND PUFF The glorious Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet is coming to The Wallis in Beverly Hills as part of a very short, nine-stop North American tour. As if having this prestigious ensemble on February 10 isn’t exciting enough, the great pianist Stephen Hough (pronounced “Huff”) will be playing with the Quintet here in Beverly…
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Music Preview: WELL-STRUNG (National Tour)
LOOKING GOOD FROM FRONT AND BACH The Los Angeles LGBT Center has announced a special one-night-only return of the internationally acclaimed singing string quartet Well-Strung. The four performers specialize in pairing universally recognized classical pieces while singing pop music hits by the likes of Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, and others. As part of their…
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Theater Review: ALADDIN (National Tour)
A BROADWAY AMUSEMENT PARK THAT FLIES LIKE A CARPET “Open sesame” indeed. It’s “Abracadabra” times ten as the arrival of Aladdin in Hollywood feels as triumphant as Prince Ali’s magnificent entrance into Agrabah at the top of the second act. A theme park of a musical, Disney Theatrical Productions’ eye-popping transformation of the 1992 film…
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CD Review: JAZZ LOVES DISNEY 2: A KIND OF MAGIC (Various Artists on Verve)
YOU CAN’T TOP PIGS WITH PIGS After The Three Little Pigs‘ runaway success in 1933, Walt Disney attempted a few more shorts starring the little porkers, but they weren’t as good, which led to one of the genius’s most memorable and telling quotes: “You can’t top pigs with pigs” — meaning sequels should be avoided. After the…
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Los Angeles Dance Preview: GEORGE BALANCHINE’S THE NUTCRACKER (Miami City Ballet World Premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion)
CRACK AWAY Miami City Ballet’s new redesign of the magical George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker will feature enchanting new costumes and sets by the Cuban-American artist/designer power couple Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Balanchine’s glorious choreography, and Tchaikovsky’s beloved timeless score. The production, co-commissioned by The Music Center, will have its world premiere in Los Angeles on…
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Chicago Opera Review: DIE WALKÜRE (Lyric Opera)
A DIE WALKÜRE ON THE WILD SIDE The Lyric’s new production of Die Walkí¼re, the second part of Wagner’s Ring cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen), is an engaging dramatic affair whose spare setting allows for the world-class singers and the fabulous Lyric orchestra to shine through. Despite some design missteps, the captivating acting of the…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: LOVE’S PASSIONS AND POTIONS (The Verdi Chorus in Santa Monica)
THE VERDI CHORUS IS A BEST BET The Verdi Chorus will present its Fall 2017 concert Love’s Passions and Potions for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on November 18 and 19, led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum. As the only choral group in Southern California that…
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Los Angeles Dance Preview: WOOLF PAPERS (NW Dance Project at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach)
WHO’S EXCITED ABOUT VIRGINIA WOOLF? Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, NW Dance Project’s Artistic Director Sarah Slipper’s Woolf Papers—a reinvention of the classic novel—is an outstanding model of contemporary dance, provocative, theatrical, and deeply moving. Now, this exciting new piece is coming to the Carpenter Center in Long Beach for one night only on…
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Music Preview: MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA (North American tour with Valery Gergiev at Disney Hall)
THE TRIFECTA OF MARIINSKY, GERGIEV, AND MATSUEV AT DISNEY HALL Beginning tonight, October 29, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will undertake their greatest tour of the season, presenting sixteen concerts in cities in the USA and Canada though November 15. During the tour, the orchestra will be appearing alongside such stunning pianists of the present day as Behzod Abduraimov, Denis Matsuev, Daniil…
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Los Angeles Dance Preview: DORRANCE DANCE (The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
TAPPING TROUBLES AWAY Michelle Dorrance, founder and artistic director of Dorrance Dance, is one of the most sought after tap dancers of her generation. Her imaginative work, which continually pushes the boundaries of this time-honored form, made her a MacArthur Fellow. Beginning tonight, her company is coming to the Wallis in Beverly Hills through October…
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Los Angeles Opera Preview: THE PEARL FISHERS (LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion)
DIVE INTO A GREAT OPERA Bizet’s most successful opera besides Carmen, The Pearl Fishers premiered as Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris (1863). London saw it at Covent Garden under the title of Leila (1887); and Italy, Pescatori di Perle (1899). The New York premiere was at the Metropolitan Opera House…
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Dance Tour Preview: MARIINSKY BALLET AND ORCHESTRA (All-Fokine program at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa)
THE MIGHTY MARIINSKY AND FABULOUS FOKINE For more than two centuries, the Mariinsky Ballet, formerly known as the Kirov, has created classical dance at its best, a tradition that continues to this day. This incredible company is coming to Segerstrom Center for the Arts for one weekend only, October 12-15, 2017, where they’ll pay tribute to…
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San Diego Theater Preview: ACCOMPLICE (Scripps Ranch Theatre)
ACCOMPLISHED ACCOMPLICE Rupert Holmes’s Accomplice is the wittiest and most accomplished fooler play since Ira Levin’s Deathtrap. Each time you think you know what is unfolding you find yourself fooled again. As with Deathtrap, I have seen Accomplice more than once, and I still get swept along on a theatrical thrill ride that rivals the twists and turns…
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Theater Review: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (North American Tour)
DETECTING LOVE A 15-year-old math whiz, Christopher is an only child with Asperger’s Syndrome. The anomaly is enough to push adolescence way beyond awkward. His autism manifests in manic multi-tasking, an inability to focus (or to lie), attention deficits, a maddening literal-mindedness, and a disarming directness that both shames and irritates adults with secrets. Afraid…
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CD Review: WAR PAINT (Original Broadway Cast on Ghostlight Records)
STAR POWER MEETS GIRL POWER The new Broadway musical War Paint centers on historical personages and rags-to-riches rivals Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, cosmetic moguls who are not incidentally female and, even less accidentally, played by Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole. Their half-century squabble, fueled by polar temperaments, marketing competition, even the men they stole from each other,…
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Broadway Theater Preview: FALSETTOS (Screening in movie theaters nationwide beginning July 12, 2017)
FALSETTOS ON THE BIG SCREEN FROM BROADWAY: EVEN UP CLOSE, THERE’S NOT A FALSE NOTE The musical masterpiece Falsettos follows Marvin, who struggles to create a tightknit family out of his eclectic array of core relationships (including his ex-wife, his new boyfriend, his adolescent son, his psychiatrist, and his neighbors (“who are lesbians from next door”)….
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Tour Preview: DAVID SEDARIS (Royce Hall at UCLA)
FINDING DAVID SEDARIS For those unfamiliar with David Sedaris’ work, he is a prolific writer, mostly of satire and non-fiction. Many of his stories revolve around his personal life and family, though–as with any great writer, and by his own admission–he does tend to embellish. His latest book, however, is a departure from his collections of…
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San Diego Theater Preview: KING RICHARD II (The Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre)
“For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings.” Now through July 15, 2017, Robert Sean Leonard (TV’s House, The Old Globe’s Pygmalion) returns to the Old Globe in San Diego to take on the title role of one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s towering cycle of…
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Theater Review: THE BOOK OF MORMON (National Tour reviewed at Hollywood Pantages Theatre)
FAITH IN FANTASY One of the best and certainly funniest shows of this century has returned. Beginning its latest national tour at the Hollywood Pantages last night, The Book of Mormon remains a perfectly packaged fusion of the satire our world desperately needs and a sassy musical comedy. From the wizards who concocted the all-offending South Park…
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CD Review: GROUNDHOG DAY (Original Broadway Cast on Broadway Records)
DOES GROUNDHOG DAY BEAR REPEATING? The Masterworks Broadway and Broadway Records CD of the musical adaptation of Groundhog Day may be a bit tough for some to hear over and over and over and over. Danny Rubin adapted his iconic screenplay about newscaster Phil, and how he must relive Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney until he…
Theater Review: RHINOCEROS (American Repertory Theater / Cambridge, MA)
by Emily Brenner | August 22, 2026
in Boston, TheaterBroadway Opening: THE IMAGINARY INVALID (Roundabout Theatre Company)
by Gregory Bernard | August 22, 2026
in New York, TheaterMusic Preview: LOOKING WEST (MUSE/IQUE)
by pwsadmin | August 22, 2026
in Concerts / Events, Los Angeles, MusicFilm Festival Preview: CINEMA DIVERSE (19th Edition in Palm Springs)
by pwsadmin | August 22, 2026
in Film, Palm Springs
(Coachella Valley)Album Review: FOR BILLIE — STELLA HEATH
by Michael Landman-Karney | August 21, 2026
in AlbumsFilm Preview: 10 KILOS (directed by Doron Eran)
by Gregory Bernard | August 21, 2026
in Film
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